Metals and more, here’s who Pope Francis pinched in Africa
Arrived in Congo, the first stop on a trip to Africa that will take him to southern Sudan, Pope Francis denounced "economic colonialism": the Congolese territory, in particular, is rich in gold, diamonds and metals useful for the ecological and digital transitions
Arrived yesterday in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first stage of a six-day trip to the African continent, Pope Francis said that Africa "is not a mine to be exploited". The pontiff also denounced "economic colonialism", "just as enslaving" as the political one.
“This country”, the pope declared referring to Congo, “and this continent deserve to be respected and listened to, they deserve space and attention. Stop suffocating Africa: it is not a mine to be exploited or land to be plundered”.
THE "BLOOD DIAMONDS" OF THE CONGO
"The poison of greed has made its blood diamonds", alluding to the natural and mineral resources present in the Congolese territory, such as cobalt for the batteries of electric vehicles.
More than 60 percent of the supply of this metal comes from the Congo, where it is estimated that 15 percent of supplies are extracted by hand, in conditions that violate workers' rights, often by children and young people. According to the pope, this exploitation represents "a drama to which the more economically advanced world often closes its eyes, ears and mouth".
– Read also: What mining companies do to trace cobalt with the blockchain
THE ADMISSION OF COLOSSUS GLENCORE
Cobalt production in Congo is controlled by Chinese companies, which own the country's largest mines, and the Anglo-Swiss company Glencore.
Glencore recently said it will pay Congolese authorities $180 million to settle a corruption charge. The company also admitted to paying multi-million dollar bribes to public officials in other African countries, such as Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and South Sudan.
THE “FORGOTTEN GENOCIDE” IN CONGO
In his speech in Kinshasa, Pope Francis also spoke of the "forgotten genocide" in Congo.
As ISPI explains in its Daily focus , for over thirty years in eastern Congo "a war 'forgotten'" has been going on by the international community: it is in this area that the Italian ambassador Luca was killed two years ago Attanasio and the carabiniere who escorted him, Vincenzo Iacovacci. The situation of insecurity has forced Pope Francis to abandon the planned visit to Goma, the capital of the eastern province of North Kivu.
In North Kivu there is an ongoing conflict between the Congolese government army (militarily supported by Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and Burundi) and dozens of rebel militias (mainly supported by Rwanda). The United Nations MONUSCO mission, the longest-running United Nations peacekeeping operation aimed at stabilizing Congo, is deployed in the region.
The war – recalls ISPI – is fueled by the large mineral reserves contained in the region: gold and diamonds, but also metals for batteries such as cobalt and nickel, "and above all coltan", a mineral necessary for the production of devices electronic devices (tablets and smartphones) of which Kivu supplies 80 percent of the world supply.
– Read also: Diamonds, cobalt, coltan and more: here is the Congo treasure and who manages it
THE VISIT OF POPE FRANCIS TO SOUTH SUDAN
After Congo, Pope Francis will go on to visit – from 3 to 5 February next – southern Sudan, another nation characterized by a serious crisis of instability.
In fact, ISPI writes that the clashes between the two strong men of the country, President Salva Kiir (in office since 2011) and Riek Machar, former vice president and head of the SPLM-IO rebel faction, are fueling numerous massacres in some regions. In particular in those of the Upper Nile, West Kordofan and in the federal states of Jonglei and Unity.
In 2019 Pope Francis had kissed the feet of Kiir and Machar, calling for an end to the civil war. But the peace agreement reached in 2018 has not been fully implemented, for example as regards the deployment of a unified national army, into which the various armed groups converge. The situation is also problematic from a purely political point of view: the elections scheduled for this February, for example, have been postponed to the end of 2024 "with the aim of reconfirming the current president", explains the study centre.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/papa-francesco-congo-sud-sudan/ on Wed, 01 Feb 2023 09:59:58 +0000.